Method of charging retorts, muffles, furnaces, and the like.



No. 813,021. PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906. A. L. J. QUENEAU.

METHOD OF CHARGING RETORTS, MUFFLES, FURNACES, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906. A.L.J.QUENEAU.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.16, 1905.

2 SHEBTSSHEET 2.

METHOD OF CHARGING RETORTS, MUFFLES, FURNACES, AND THE LIKE.

UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

nueusrm 1'... J. QUENEAU, OF- SOUTH BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

- METHOD or cuae'me RETORTS, MuFFLEs, Finances, AND THE LIKE.

- No. araoai.

To all ,whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTIN L. J. QUE- NEAU, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at South Bethlehem, county of Northampton, State of Pennsylvania, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Charging or Feeding .Retorts, Muffles', Furnaces, 'and the Like; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and'exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the method 'of charging retorts, mufiles, and the like, and in the method of feeding pulverized fuel to steamboiler furnaces, rotary cementekilns, and other furances, wherein it is desirable to impart to the entering body of pulverized fuel a long trajectory.

Prominent among the useful applications of my improved method is its applicability to-the metallurgy of spelter, wherein the in gredients ofthe char e to'be supplied to the retorts or mufl les' of t e furnace-bench are in p the present practice shoveled into the open ends of the retorts or mufHes by hand. The workmen em loyed' for this urpose receive the wages of 'ghly-skilled la or. The work of charging the retorts'by hand in view. of the small cross-sectional area of the retorts and the size of the charging-openings and in view of the heat of the furnace and the fumes constantly issuing from ,the condensers is of a very trying character, so that in s ite'of the endurance of the furnacemen an the skill, care, and attentionwhich they give to their duties it frequently happens that there is great inequality in the charging of the retorts of the-same bench, so that 'in some instances the charge of certain of, the retorts or muffles is found to be completely worked out or exhausted long'before others of the same series have com leted their operation. The inequality o .the hand-charging procedure is particularly manifest at certain seasons of the year and-under certain adverse climatic conditions, and especially durin f the late hours of the night and near the n of a shift, at which time the energy of the furnacemen flags. The losses resulting from the varying Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

and uneven handcharging procedure are the efiiciency and working value of the plant.

, tute for the uncertain and uneven charging method referred to a method of. charging which is absolutely reliable under all conditions of time and climate, weather and temperature, andwhich is uniform and continuous and,of such a character that it may be applied even by unskilled labor to thesuccessful charging of retorts and muflles of small cross-section or which have small charging apertures. Its characteristic fea ture consists in projecting the retort or fur-. nace char e by an impact blow into the retort, mu e, or f urnace in a continuous and homogeneous stream, which is preferably caused to assume a substantially c lindrical form after it has received its initia .momentum and is under way. Where the ingredients of the charge are different substances associated together for the production of zinciferous materialsand fine coal of a zincmuflle charge-the impact blows are preferabl so delivered as to further comminute an more intimately intermingle the associated elements of the mixture, thereby lesseningthe attention that need be given to the preliminary mixing of the charge and making it muc more satisfactory than can usually be expected from hand-mixing.

illustrated a convenient form of apparatus for carrying m improved method into effect, although it wi l of course be recognized that ,it is; not dependent upon the employment of any particular form of apparatus to realize its advantages.

In the apparatus shown .in the drawings, Figuresl, 2, and 3 represent, respectively, a top plaiii; .view, side elevation, and rear elevation of a charging-machine embodying my improvements. Fig. 4 represents a front elevation, partly in section.

' Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that, as shown, the casing of the machine is made up'of a base casting A and a top casting B, said castings being provided with projecting flanges for bolting them together. Between the two castings is journaled the serious in amount and materially cut down some particular reaction-as, for instance, the

The purpose of my invention is -to substi In the accompanying drawings I have shaft 0, adapted toybe revolved by the drivepulley D and provided with suitable brasses and lubricatin devices.

Upon the s aft is keyed the'imp'eller disk, consisting, preferably, of a single casting having a hub portion a with endfiang'es b, "a flat main body portion vconstituting a circular plate of a diameter 'correspondin' to the internal diameter of the casing, an a series of blades 0 of a curvature, indicated in Fig. 2. At theirouter ends these blades 0 are of a width corresponding to the width of the easof the widest and outmost portion of the blade and at right angles thereto will have impartedlto it a momentum equivalent to that due to a sharp blow, 'in consequence vessels at one andthe same time.

whereof the material receiving such impact blow will be driven out tangentially throughthe upwardly-inclined outlet-spout F and its auxiliary pipe-section F.

The function of the pipe-section F (see Fig. 2) isto give form and direction to the issuing stream of charging material, and in this re- -gard the pipe-section F acts in a measure ike the barrel of ,a gun to insure against scattering of the projected particles. In some instances 1- may, if desired, substitute for the single pipe-sectionF a forked pipe-section,

so as to simultaneously charge two or more the In ractice the material supplied to I charging-machine will be fed from a suitable hopper into the inlet-opening E by means of a feed-screw G, delivering into a pipe E, bolted to the inlet-pipe E, .so that the charging-machine will -be thus supplied with a' forced feed, which may be 'so regulated as to correspond exactly to the conditions of use,

and particularly to the speed of revolution which, shot through the outlet, travels in a desired.

The s eed of revolution of the impellerdisk an the speed of revolution of the con veyer-screw are so adjusted with respect to each other as tov furnish a resultant stream of material corresponding to the particular reoiuirements of use. Inpractice I have been enabled to produce a stream of material straight path without'any material spread- 1ng for a distance varying from three to tenfeet and more, this charge moving in a practically solid, homogeneous column of generally cyiindrical form, so that it can be directed into a" retort or muffle opening of a corre- -spo,ndingly small diameter. The obtaining of this non-spreading, solid, and homogeneous column is due in great measure to the fact that the casing 'is' sealed at all times by the material fed into it, so that ractically no air can enter with the materiafinto the casing. Byreference to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the feed-screw G for supplying the material from the hopper to the inlet-plpe terminates in advance of the dischargemouth of the inlet, thereby leaving an intervening portion which is constantly packed full of the material and which remains full, whether the feedscrew is in operation orjnot.

column of materialwhich issues throu h the tangential discharge-spout is practice y devoi of air. If air werev resent as an element There is therefore noindraftof air into the casing, and the of the column projecte from the tangential dischage-spout, it would tend to expand and scatter the material on its way to the retorts, and the air within the retorts would itself op- ,pose such resistance to the entrance ofa column of material containing air that additional scattering would take place at the re tort-mouths, thereby preventing the effective charging of the comminuted material. By

the expedient of sealing the casin against the entrance of air with the material supplied thereto both of these disadvantages are overcome;

I do not claim *herein the particular char ing-machine shown, for the reason that I' have made said charging-machine the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 241,2 73,filed January 16,1905.

What I claim is 1. The method of sup lying retorts, muffies, furnaces, and the ike, with finely-divided solid ingredients, which consists in projecting the same, by impact blows, in a continuous and homo eneous stream,into the retort, muffle, or rnace; substantially as described.

2. The method of supplying retorts, muffies, and the like, with a charge of associated ingredients, which consists in projecting the charge, by impact blows, in a continuous and homo eneous stream into the retortor muffie to e charged, said impact blows being of a character to further comminute and intermingle the ingredients; substantially asdescribed.

3. The method of sup lying 'retorts, muffl'es, furnaces, and the ike, with finely-divided ingredients, which consists in projecting the same in a continuous and homogene-' ous stream into the retort, mufiie, or furnace, avoiding subsequent scattering of the stream by practically excluding air from it during its jecting. the same, by impact blows, in a continuous and homogeneous stream, into the retort, muffle, or furnace, and practically eX- IO eluding air from said stream; substantially as described.

In testimony'whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUSTIN L. J. QUENEAU Witnesses:

FREDERIC E. PIERCE, S. P. WETHERILL, Jr. 

